Michelle Price and Pete Schroeder

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said Monday that he will renominate Jerome Powell as U.S. Federal Reserve chairman. But, he was left in Washington speculating about who would be the Fed’s next regulatory chief.

Randal Quarles (Republican appointee) resigned from the powerful oversight of the nation’s biggest lenders last month and will leave the central banking next month. Biden indicated that the Fed would announce other Fed picks in early December.

Washington insiders and analysts had considered Lael Brainard, a fellow Fed Governor, as the most likely candidate to succeed Quarles. She was opposed to Quarles’ plan to rewrite rules that were in place after the global financial crisis of 2007-2009. But she has accepted the Fed Vice-chair role.

While progressives have been pushing for someone who will take a more tough stance against Wall Street, it remains to be seen if that candidate will prevail. These are the most prominent names, as compiled by multiple analysts and Washington insiders.

NELLIE LIANG, TREASURY UNDERSECRETARY

Liang, currently Treasury Under Secretary for Domestic Finance and an ex-Fed official was integral in the creation of the regulatory framework post-crisis. As a Fed staffer for many decades, Liang eventually became its first director of Division of Financial Stability after the financial crisis.

In 2017, she left the central banking to become a member of the Brookings Institution. There, she criticised Republican attempts to reduce capital and liquidity requirements in large banks.

Liang had been previously nominated to a Fed board seat in the past by President Donald Trump. But, she withdrew from her nomination in 2019 because Republicans opposed it over concerns she would be too harsh on Wall Street.

Jaret S. Seiberg (an analyst with Cowen Washington Research Group) wrote, “We would expect her tightening big bank supervision, but she also strikes me as pragmatic which may not work to the benefit of progressives.”

A spokesperson for Liang did not immediately provide comment.

SARAH BLOOM RASKIN, FORMER OBA OFFICIAL

Raskin was formerly a Fed governor and Treasury officer. However, progressives support him but could also win enough Senate votes. Seiberg said that.

As a Fed governor from 2010 to 2014, Raskin slammed proprietary trading as of “low or no real economic value” and pushed for a strict interpretation of the “Volcker Rule,” a major post-crisis reform curbing such speculative investments.

Raskin was later appointed deputy Treasury secretary by former President Barack Obama. Before joining the Fed, she was also the highest financial regulator in Maryland.

Raskin, who has been teaching at Duke Law since 2017, recently accepted a new position. Next year, she will be the faculty director for Duke Law’s Global Financial Markets Center. Raskin did not respond to our request for comment.

RAPHAEL BOSTIC – ATLANTA FED PRINCE

Bostic was the first Black person in a region Fed presidency role when he became President of Atlanta Fed. Bostic has spoken out on issues of racial diversity as well as economic inequality, which were key priorities for the Biden government.

Bostic is an economist by trade. He previously worked at the Fed Washington where he was praised for his efforts on community lending rules and at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Bostic is, however, “a bit of an unknown regarding financial regulation,” stated Brian Gardner (NYSE:) Corp., chief Washington policy strategist for Stifel Financial.

Bostic stated Monday that he has “no trips” to Washington on his schedule and that any decisions regarding such an appointment were out of his control.

Bostic spokesperson refused to comment.

MICHAEL HSU MEHRSA BARADARAN

Hsu is currently Acting Comptroller for the Currency. He was previously responsible for big bank supervision at Fed. As acting Comptroller, he has pushed Democratic priorities, including climate change risk and has warned banks against “over-confidence” https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-banking-regulator-cautions-firms-against-overconfidence-following-pandemic-2021-05-18 coming out of the pandemic.

While he would be a good fit for Fed supervision, Washington insiders said, the nominee to replace him as permanent Comptroller, Saule Omarova, may not secure enough Senate votes after some moderate Democrats expressed concerns https://www.reuters.com/business/facing-fierce-opposition-us-bank-regulator-pick-pledges-protect-small-lenders-2021-11-17 over her academic work. Hsu could be needed to remain at the White House.

Baradaran is a financial expert and academic who was loved by the progressives that pushed for her appointment as Comptroller. The White House rejected her because of concerns from the government and moderate legislators, who claimed she didn’t have enough experience in the federal government.

Baradaran, as well as a representative of Hsu, did not respond immediately.